"Ultimate sci-fi shooter. Period."

Introduction:Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is the conclusion of an extremely fun and enjoyable trilogy of sci-fi shooters starring Nintendo's leading lady, Samus Aran. This game leaves the first two in the dust, not just because of the hardware and graphics. Further explanation follows below.

Gameplay 10/10:The Wii's remote and Nunchuk combination once again shows itself to be the future of gaming. The controller works beautifully with the game, resulting in an extremely realistic and easy-to-control experience. The aiming system becomes second nature within a matter of minutes, and the motion sensitivity is fun without being difficult to pull off or picky. Those that have had trouble getting the remote to recognise a specific gesture or motion will find no such difficulty here. The game has been taken back to the roots of the series, in ways I would rather not spoil for the reader, and a lot of previously mundane items have been modified in new and completely unexpected ways.

Story 10/10:For any Metroid veteran, this game holds a lot of surprises and calls to past games. For any newcomer, the game is the most cinematic and compelling in the series. For the first time, voice acting is used extensively, there are supporting characters who actually have personalities, and the enemies are easy to hate. No two fights are the same, and the enemies all have completely different weaknesses.

Graphics/Sound 10/10:One word: knockout. Quite possibly the best graphics I have ever seen, and I wasn't even playing it on hi-def. It was difficult not to play in jaw-dropped awe as I watched beautiful snowfall, excellent missile trails, molten metal and rock flowing like the real thing, and not the tiniest hang-up or stutter. Obviously all the delays to polish this game up were well-used. As for the sound, new music sets the theme nicely for each stage, and some old favourites return right where they are expected.

Play time/Replayability 9.5/10:This game is lengthy, but not at all repetitive. This is possibly the only place where it fails, because some doors take forever to open, and anyone who has played this game or another in the series knows of this complaint intimately. The game is far more non-linear than the other two, which for the hard-core Metroid player is a definite plus. I could definitely see myself restarting this game after a few months, not counting the replay I'll be doing to write the walkthrough.

Final statement:If this game is not worth your money it is anyway. Probably the best spent 55 dollars I ever parted with. If you don't have the Wii, this game alone justifies buying one, along with some of the others on the console. Retro did an excellent job, and I am anxiously looking forward to their next work in the series.